What is Eating Your Customers?

I recently noticed that not only do some businesses offer incredibly poor processes when it comes to taking care of their customers but, what’s worse is, they are not even aware of the impact they have on their own good name and whether or not that the customer will ever come back to them.

When I last tried to buy a couple of men’s suits, it was an ordeal. It took 14 trips to that men’s clothing store in order to get my suits — plus a 15^th trip to have one of them repaired when all of the lining unraveled in my suit jacket while I was at a mixer and just before I was to do an evening presentation. Needless to say, I was cautious about shopping again for more suits.

I got to the point where I couldn’t hold out any longer and so, with my wife’s help, I located a new men’s clothing store. I called ahead of time to make sure that they could help me. And although the suits were considerably more expensive than the ones I’d purchased in the past, the owner assured me that he could help me find two wool suits in my size. I made sure to tell the owner of my previously bad experiences trying to buy suits. When I got to his store, he did not have a navy blue or a solid light gray suit in my size. He said he could order them. He called me the next day to said he found the blue suit and that I could come in for measuring. I said I wanted to wait until he located the light gray suit, so that I only had one make one trip for measuring.

Having not heard back from him in over a month, I called to follow up. He fumbled through his records and could not find my information. Eventually, he located his notes and said he had the light gray suit was in the store. When he went to look for the navy blue suit, he discovered that it was no longer in his shop. Apparently, he was waiting for me to come in for measurements and figured I didn’t want it. I reminded him that he was to call me when both suits were in so that I could come down and get measured for both suits at the same time. In the best-case scenario, I should have had both of the suits I ordered after a two-month wait. I guess the upside is I should only have to make three trips to get my suits.

My point is that he’s telling me I can get both of the men suits I ordered and I’ll have them within 60 days. That’s the outcome I want. However, poor communication, ridiculously long wait times, and reordering items that had already been received is a terrible process through which to put your customers.

Please learn from this example that more customers will leave your business because of the process they encounter, than because of the outcome they receive.

“Service and quality pays is the best kept secret in American business.” – Tom Peters

Let me hear from you.

This excerpt is taken from the seminar entitled Legendary Customer Service VI: Mastering the Process and the Outcome. I encourage you to click here to register for the exclusive live Zoom presentation of Legendary Customer Service VI: Mastering the Process and the Outcome on Thursday, August 17, 2023 from 9 AM to 12 noon Eastern Standard Time.